 Greenfish
Enters Land
By Armando
Pedroza
Terrestrial
life on Enod began near
the rocky shores with the evolution of a lobe finned fish
known to planet Enod as Greenfish. Greenfish lived near the
surface of Enod's oceanic waters. It fed on small plants and
organic materials. The constant cycles of drought, followed
by heavy rainfall and fluctuation of sea levels forced these
fish to find new survival adaptations. Greenfish apparently
adapted to the unreliable conditions, and this lobed-finned
fish with lungs prevailed. One adaptation for survival was
its ability to use its fins to move from the land during low
tides back into the water. Millions of years ago the fins
began to evolve into appendages that would assist the animal
in movement on land.
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 Niche
1 (Sandy shore)
Tetrapod
After millions of years,
Greenfish's muscular fins became more specialized and began
to evolve into muscular web-like appendages. These
appendages provided the animal with mobility both on land
and in water. This adaptation allowed tetrapod to search for
food among the rocks and plants of Enod's sandy shores. The
mouth became sophisticated and has transverse rows of
teeth. These razor sharp teeth permitted the animal to feed
on the plants found near the shore. Throughout the course of
time these tetrapods would diversity into many
niches.
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Niche
2 (Wetlands)
Amphipod
Amphipod is an ancestor of
tetropod. It evolved millions of years ago as a result of
new adaptations acquired for its survival. It inhabits the
wetlands of Enod where it spends most of its time foraging
for small plants and fish eggs. This animal has a narrow
thin tail. The tail allows the animal to propel itself
through Enod's creeks and rivers. A new evolutionary tissue
provided it with protection from the exterior elements such
as UV lights and hot temperatures. The new tissue helped the
amphipods to retain moisture and to stabilize its internal
functions.
Amphipods like shallow ponds,
which are made by rain. Ponds often dry up in the summer which is beneficial to amphipods, because greenfish, which eat
amphipod eggs and larvae, cannot live in these ponds.
However, if amphipod eggs do not hatch and the larvae do not
develop into adults in time, they can die when the pond
dries up. Therefore, amphipods go between the uplands and
the wetlands, like most amphibians found on planet Earth. In the
breeding season and early summer, amphipods can be found in
wetlands or in ponds.
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Niche
3 (Rainforest)
Snakelong
Snakelong evolved at about the
same time as amphipod. Snakelong is apparently a descendant
of tetrapod that adopted a burrowing lifestyle. After
millions of years, some tetrapods began to lose function of
their appendages as they moved into Enod's tropical rain
forest. The animal began to elongate and became more narrow.
Tetrapod evolved specialized muscles and bones that allowed
the snake to move freely through plants and rocks. The moist
skin cells differentiated into dry scales. The scales
protected the animal from being injured. Snakelong's
reproduction system of internal fertilization made snakelong
very common on planet Enod.
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 Larjaw
Exits Water
By Edwin
A. Rivas
 The
constant changes in Enod's ocean environment, forces its
inhabitants to adapt or perish. Many of the ocean creatures
met this unfortunate fate and vanished out of existence and
memory. Only a few fossil remains have been found to make
us aware of their existence. Those who were able to adapt to
the changes managed to evolve into creatures that took full
advantage of the lack of predators and abundant food supply.
One of these creatures was the Larjaw fish.
The constant changes in the
ocean's sea level (caused by the melting and freezing of the
polar caps) exposed this fish to waters that were sometimes
low in oxygen. Larjaw was forced to swim with its mouth wide
open and close to the surface of the water, to try and
absorb as much oxygen as it needed to survive. In the
course of millions of years, it began to develop simple
"lung like" organs that worked in conjunction with it gills
extract oxygen from the water and the surface air. In time,
it was able to spend increasingly longer periods of time out
of water and would wallow in the mud covered shores of beaches
and rivers. This was the beginning of an organism that
became known as Skipjaw.
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Niche
1 (Muddy shore)
Skipjaw
.
  Skipjaw
was named mainly for its ability to skip around on the muddy
shores. It used its fins to propel itself across the
slippery surfaces found along the shore during low tide. It spent
hours searching for fish that had been trapped in small
pools of water that were left behind when the tide receded.
As time passed, its two front fins began to develop strength
and agility. In time, skipjaw was able to increase the amount of time
that it was able to spend out of the water. It began to rely more on its lung-like organs for
breathing and less on the gills that it had used for millions of
years.
Skipjaw's fins were another
adaptation that helped it to survive in this new environment.
Once streamlined for swimming, they were now required to
sustain its body weight while out of the water. Their tips
were slowly beginning to broaden to help keep it from
sinking into the muddy shores. All these new physical
activities led to the development of broader, stronger and
more muscular appendages.
Skipjaw also changed its
mating and reproduction habits. Once a creature of the
depths, it now preferred to lay its eggs within the muddy
shores where it spent most of it time hunting. This exposed
the young to a dryer environment at a much earlier
age.
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Niche
2 (Wetlands)
Salijaw
  Over
the course of 4 million years, skipjaw continued to evolve as
it went about its daily life on the muddy Enod shorelines,
every generation spending more time out of water and
becoming more like the amphibians that are found on Earth
today. Its body continued to change to take advantage of the
natural resources that were found in its habitat.
As the population of skipjaw
increased, competition for food became a problem. Soon, some
of the members of the skipjaw colonies began to venture out
into the drier environments. These pioneers were very
successful in capturing the variety of small organisms and
plant materials that they came across. These adventurers are
what eventually evolved in the the creature that became know
as Salijaw.
Salijaw's body structure was
a direct result of countless generations of skipjaws
venturing out into the drier Enod wetland. Their fin tips
continued to broaden and became tough to protect it from the
rocks and the hot soils that the Salijaws walked on. It now spent the
most part of the day out of the water searching for small
organisms and plant materials to eat. Its dark scaly skin
had become harder and thicker to protect themselves from the
environment and its enemies.
Since Salijaw spent most of
the day out of the water, it had evolved a long and flat
tail that helped to balance itself while it walked on the
dry surfaces, as well as serving as a rudder while in the
water.
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Niche
3 (Rainforest)
Superjaw
 The
wet rain forest floor and swamps are dominated by a species
known as Superjaw. It was a direct descendant of the salijaw
family. Its larger size and ferocious appetite, place it a
the top of the food chain. It's long tail helped it balance
itself on land and served as a powerful "oar" to propel
itself while it swam. Its enormous size was a direct result
of its diet. Superjaw is primarily a carnivore and does not
hesitate to devour any smaller members of its own species
may happen to cross its path.
Being cold blooded allowed
super jaw to survive for long periods of time without eating.
It spent long periods of time basking in the sun absorbing
the Nub rays to help regulate its body temperature. Similar
to Earth's amphibians, super jaw needs to regulate its body
temperature in order for his digestive system to work
properly. Once its optimum body temperature is reached,
it hides in the rain forest to digest its food and wait for
its next victim.
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© 3-18-02 E. Rivas & A.
Pedroza